Playing a fresh and defensively healthy Everett Silvertips team, the Spokane Chiefs couldn’t afford to commit self-inflicted mistakes such as penalties.
But that’s exactly what they did on Sunday in the first third, when shortly afterwards they had to give up one power play goal in the event of a distraction and another in an even counterattack.
While the Chiefs managed to tie the game twice after falling behind, they failed to implement their two shots in overtime. Instead, Ronan Seeley scored the overtime game winner from the left circle to give the Silvertips a 4-3 win at the Spokane Arena.
“When you play against Everett, you have to play a certain way and you have to use what you get out there because you know you probably won’t get a lot,” said Chiefs coach Adam Maglio.
The Silvertips (1-0-0), who won the U.S. Division with a 19-4-0 record in the shortened season last spring, had seven power plays, and while the Chiefs successfully killed six of them, the whole time inside the box put pressure on the penalty killers and prevented Maglio from rolling lines the way he wanted.
“You must have depth,” said Maglio. “They play tough against you so you need guys who are fresh, and when you get into penalty trouble … you have people playing longer minutes in a game.”
The Chiefs (0-1-1) also played without Cordel Larson and Timafey Kovgoreniya, those of the WHL for two or urban Americans on Saturday.
But in the second third the Chiefs equalized, first with a Ty Cheveldayoff goal in front of the net and then with a hit by Luke Toporowski, which was initially not awarded. The referees checked and the 20-year-old, who shut down and then slipped into Silvertips goalkeeper Koen MacInnes, received the goal.
“To be honest, I just put it on the net,” said Toporowski. “I knew I had a step on their (defense attorney), and getting things online makes good things happen. All of my teammates said it was in. I didn’t see it, but good things happen, I think. “
Ryan Hofer’s goal towards the end of the second period gave the Silvertips a 3-2 lead, which they held until the last two minutes of the third period. But defender Mac Gross’s second career goal (in 45 games) equaled the game with 1:52.
“The second point would have been nicer,” said Toporowski, “but we can’t hang our heads and just have to look forward to Friday.”